What’s better than a bar of chocolate? Chocolate mousse, that’s what. But if you do it the traditional French way with a zillion eggs it will cost a bomb, be super calorific and take far too bloody long to prepare.
I heard about this Heston Blumenthal chocolate mousse and didn’t believe it would work as it’s just chocolate and water. If you click on the Heston link it will take you to someone else’s blog where they will tell you more about it than I can conjure up after a bottle of wine but. . .
You’ll notice that the blogger’s recipe says that only the best quality chocolate can be used or it won’t work. Not true. Milk chocolate or white
chocolate won’t work but the cheapest 30p block of Smartprice dark chocolate works just fine.
Break up two bars (just 60p) into a pan and add nearly the same amount in water. Yes you can guess. Be brave. If it ends up too thin just make sure you have another 30p block to chuck in.
So you then need to whip the chocolate into the water so it’s all smooth and silky. That takes about 3 seconds.
Then comes the bit where the magic happens. For this you either need a big bowl full of ice to stand your pan on or a bag of frozen peas.
Here’s Heston’s video of his mousse making. And what is he doing wrong? Yes, that’s right he’s using a balloon whisk because he’s showing off and being all cheffy.
Just buy yourself a hand whisk which is about £7 from the supermarkets. The cheapy ones work brilliantly for this.
When it’s thick and shiny and twice as big as it was, pour it into one big or 4 individual pots or glasses and pop it in the fridge for an hour to set.
You will have the most gorgeous, silky sexy chocolate mousse ever.
Even Joe liked it. Although it’s difficult to tell from this photo.
Joe’s eyes say he loves it!
Can I ask – how hot should the water be when you put the choc in? Ta!
Sally, I brought the water to boiling then turned it off and mixed the chocolate in until melted. Just as long as you don’t bubble and boil the chocolate with the water it will be fine. It’s really easy this recipe, honest.
Sounds amazing. I’ve only got a balloon whisk – what’s the problem with a balloon whisk though (it’s what I’ve got)? By the way, have you made chocolate sorbet with cocoa powder? It’s another revelation. Here’s Diana Henry’s recipe that includes rosemary (although you can loose that if you prefer – husband Nathan wasn’t keen, I loved it).
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=P22nAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT120&lpg=PT120&dq=chocolate+sorbet+with+cocoa+powder+diana+henry&source=bl&ots=HUF4KMs5uf&sig=cNgjzN3TgsnuV4irCiudDRpSp_k&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gUk-VICCFcmX7Qax2YHADw&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=chocolate%20sorbet%20with%20cocoa%20powder%20diana%20henry&f=false
As you can see Lucy, I only had a balloon whisk as well but I did wonder, after whipping ’til my arm nearly fell off, why I hadn’t just used a hand whisk. I’ll have a go at the cocoa sorbet. Sounds great.